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Home My Public Portal About2008_04_21 Council Work Session April 21, 2008 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 8:00 p.m. Mayor Umstattd presiding. Councilmembers Present: Katie Sheldon Hammier, Susan Horne, Marty Martinez, Ken Reid, David Schmidt, Kevin Wright and Mayor Kristen Umstattd Councilmembers Absent: Kevin Wright arrived at 9:10 p.m. Staff Present: Town Manager John Wells, Town Attorney Jeanette Irby Deputy Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Assistant to the Town Manager Kathy Leidich, Assistant to the Town Manager Scott Parker, Chief of Police Joe Price, Captain Jeff Van Gilder, Director of Engineering and Public Works Tom Mason, Director of Utilities Randy Shoemaker, Director of Capital Projects Management Nagi Elsewaissi, Acting Co- Director of Parks and Recreation Bill Ference, Acting Co-Director of Parks and Recreation Rich Williams, Zoning Administrator Brian Boucher, Economic Development Manager Marantha Edwards, Library Director Alexandra Gressett, Deputy Director of Engineering and Public Works Charles Mumaw, IT Project Manager John Callahan, Director of Finance Norm Butts, Senior Management Analyst Bob Berkey, Senior Management Analyst Annie Carlson, Chief of Engineering Bill Ackman, Transportation Engineer Calvin Grow, and Clerk of Council Lee Ann Green AGENDA ITEMS 1. Questions on Tuesday Agenda Items Council Meeting of April 22, 2008 a. Public Hearing - Approving TLOA 2008-0001 Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments to Implement Certain Objectives of the 2005 Town Plan and to Update Various Sections There was discussion on the timing of temporary political signs. Ms. Irby stated the State Code does not specify the length of time a temporary sign political sign can stay up, but only regulates the size of the temporary political signs. b. Public Hearing - Approving TLOA 2008-0002 Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments to Permit Interim Waivers Consistent with Certain Objectives of the 2005 Town Plan There were no questions regarding this item. c. Public Hearing - Approving Amendments to Article 5 of the Zoning Ordinance regarding the Provision of Affordable Dwelling Units {AD Us) Vice Mayor Horne questioned whether this would apply to AD Us in high rise apartment buildings. Scott Parker stated the State Code has two separate ordinances that outline and highly regulate the administration of the Affordable Dwelling Unit program in the State. He stated Loudoun County has adopted a very similar document to that of the State. He noted the Town would be striking the language referring to high rise units with elevators. Town Council Work Session of April 21. 2008 Page 2 Council Member Reid stated he would like to see the tables removed from the ordinance as he has a problem with the prescriptive nature of the tables. He asked to minimize the number of special exceptions that are required. d. Public Hearing - Amending the Town Code Setting Tax Rates on Real Estate, Tangible Personal Property and Bank Capital for Tax Year 2008 There were no questions regarding this item. e. Public Hearing - Adopting the Budget for Fiscal Year 2009; Making Appropriations for the General Fund, Utilities Fund, Airport Fund, and Capital Projects Fund; Amending the Town Code Setting Airport User Fees; Setting Fees for Hangars and Tie-Downs; and Setting Certain Fees for the Ida Lee Recreation Center There were no questions regarding this item. f. Public Hearing - Human Resources Manual There were no questions regarding this item. g. Town Flag Design Contest Council Member Reid stated he would like to see a Children's category. The Council expressed concern over the deadline for submissions by requesting the deadline be moved back to give possible contestants more time to work on their submissions. Mr. Callahan stated the tight schedule is due to production times needed to produce the flag. g. Authorizing Offer to acquire easement and condemnation if offers are not promptly accepted for Battlefield Parkway - Rehau There were no questions regarding this item. 2. Work Session Items for Discussion a. Meade Drive Stop Signs Council Member Martinez stated he was disappointed with the public misunderstanding of his motives in resurrecting the stop sign debate. He stated he was concerned for the safety of the residents of Meade Drive due to the drivers' failing to stop at the stop signs. Further, he expressed disappointment in insinuations of conflict of interest on the parts of Vice Mayor Horne and Council Member Schmidt. He stated he would abstain from voting on the matter, should the matter come to vote. Council Member Schmidt thanked Council Member Martinez for his comments. He stated the signs were bad public policy and counter to the Town's traffic calming standards, but he did not wish to cause further strife in the neighborhood and did not plan to take any action to change to the current stop sign situation unless there was majority support on Council. Town Council Work Session of April 21. 2008 Paqe 3 Calvin Grow stated he added an additional option of leaving the stop signs in place. He recommended a public hearing be held if any changes are going to be made. Vice Mayor Horne noted that children are aware of the actions of their parents and advised parents to be sure to stop at all the stop signs. Council Member Reid stated that putting in raised crosswalks would increase the fine level for disregarding the crosswalk. He noted the fine for not stopping at a crosswalk is up to $500, but the fine for not stopping at a stop signs is $30. He urged his colleagues to find a better solution than just having stop signs on Meade Drive. Mayor Umstattd noted a vote could be called at tomorrow night's meeting, if a member of Council chose to make a motion. b. First Floor Retail Presentation Ara Bagdasarian gave a presentation on behalf of the Economic Development Commission. He stated the goal is to preserve first floor spaces for retail in the downtown. He gave recommendations to the Council including creation of a special tourism district where retail is required on the first floor, working with downtown property owners to encourage a more retail oriented mix with the use of incentives, and coordination of downtown associations to achieve the common goal. c. Dog Park Update Bill Ference stated 20 sites had been reviewed, both Town and privately owned. He stated of those 20 sites, eight sites had been selected as possible sites for the dog park. Mr. Ference reported on the pros and cons of the eight sites. Council preference was for a long term site at Veterans Park and a short term site at Ida Lee. Council Member Wright noted the Parks and Recreation Commission had been opposed to using Ida Lee. Council Member Hammier questioned how close the proposed Ida Lee site is to Old Waterford Knolls. Mr. Ference stated the property is further away from Old Waterford Knolls than the Morven Meadows site and it is across Old Waterford Road. Council Member Reid expressed concern with spending money on a temporary site and then more money on a permanent site. Sandy Kane stated she appreciated the opportunity to comment. She stated the Friends of the Dog Park are looking for a three acre site and are willing to help contribute money to develop the site. 3. For information only: Preview Topics for April 21-22, 2008: There was no discussion of the following items. a. Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance Presentation Town Council Work Session of April 21. 2008 Page 4 b. SAGE Project Update c. Civic Signs d. Veterans Park Boundary Line Adjustment 4. Closed Session On a motion by Mayor Umstattd, seconded by Vice Mayor Horne, the following was proposed: MOTION Leesburg Town Council convene in closed session to discuss legal matters regarding potential property acquisition at Izaak Walton Park and the Battlefield Parkway easement acquisition. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Hammier, Horne, Martinez, Reid, Schmidt, Wright and Mayor Umstattd Nay: None Vote: 7-0 Council convened in Closed Session at 9:45 p.m. After reconvening in regular session at 10:20 p.m., Mayor Umstattd made the following motion, seconded by Council Member Martinez: MOTION In accordance with Section 2.2-3712 of the Code of Virginia, I move that Council certify to the best of each member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or considered in the meeting by Council. The motion was approved by the following vote: Aye: Hammier, Martinez, Reid, Schmidt, Wright and Mayor Umstattd Nay: None Vote: 6-0-1 (Horne absent) Adjournment On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Council Member Wright, the meeting adjourned at 10:45 p.m. 2008_tcwsmin0421 ~~(j~